Winter weather

Winter is definitely here. We've had our first winter storm of the season. 'Cold' temperatures - 60°F - and rain. [Now 60° may not sound cold to you, but remember, many buildings here don't really have inside space. If it's sixty degrees outside, it's pretty much sixty degrees inside at work, at the restaurant, etc.] As always there is a story attached (this is a blog after all).

We had spent the weekend over town to pick up our Christmas decorations from our storage locker and finish our Christmas shopping. These tasks went relatively smoothly, although I ended up doing most of the shopping due to what I'll just refer to as 'technical difficulties'. Anyhoo, we had brought a cooler with us so we could go grocery shopping, but with all the presents and the two boxes of decorations and the Things, there wasn't room in the car for groceries, too, so we ended up not going to the store.

We take the ferry back to the island and return to our house that is pretty devoid of food. Sweetie said "I'll just go over to Avalon tomorrow and go grocery shopping."

"No you won't," I replied, having just looked at the weather report.

So that night it rains, and it was a fair amount for us - 3/4 of an inch on the West End. Doesn't sound like a lot, but when all your roads are dirt, things get messy quickly. And then Monday night it rained, and Tuesday it rained, and we were starting to wonder if we were ever going to get to the grocery store. It was Thursday before Sweetie was able to get into town, and by then the lunches we were sending the kids to school were getting very creative.

Fortunately, when she got there, there was food in the store. Normally, in the winter time, barges come once a week with food for the grocery store in Avalon, and if you get there the day before the barge, there's pretty much nothing on the shelves. This year, we also had to deal with the refrigeration compressors going down at the store, so for several weeks, you'd go to the store and they'd have no dairy products at all, except maybe a gallon of milk. Their consistent lack of bread also leaves me puzzled.

So now we're planning our Christmas feast. We're having another family over for dinner. Sweetie will be serving fresh local lobster tails, some sort of risotto, and prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, with cheesecake for dessert. (Bit of a toss-up on whether the Things will eat any of it, but they'll have other stuff on their minds...)

Look for a blog post sometime after Christmas. We'll be traveling to the farm right after, so it may be delayed a week or so.

Merry Christmas (or Happy Hanukkah, depending on your persuasion), and Happy New Year.

Island Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a bit muddled this year, since we have been dealing with Sweetie's surgery recovery and Thing 1's broken finger.

Oh, right. I haven't told you about Thing 1's broken finger. So THE DAY we get back to the island after Sweetie's surgery, Thing 1 wanted to show me the tricks he's been doing on his scooter - wheelies and hops. He was doing that for a while and then went down around the lower set of houses, and reappeared sans scooter and crying. "I fell down" he said. "Are you hurt?" I replied. He showed me his hand, and his pinky looked a little funny, so we took him over to Baywatch. They poked and prodded and said they didn't think it was broken, but agreed it looked funny, so they taped it to his ring finger and told us to take him to Avalon the next day.


So after school the next day, we drove into town (not downtown or over town) and went to the clinic. The doctor poked and prodded and ordered an X-ray. Thing 1 was very good for the X-ray (he did ask why he had to wear the lead apron in his lap...). When the pictures came back, it did, indeed, show a break and in a bit of an unusual position. The doctor said he'd never seen a break there before. Look at the base of the pinky in the attached image. You should be able to see most of the shaft of the bone detached from a disk of bone just above the joint. We were referred to an orthopedic surgeon. "Oh great," I thought to myself, "more surgery."

The next Monday, Thing1 and I did a commando trip over town, driving over to Avalon to catch an 8am boat, taking a taxi up to see Dr. Hand. He was a nice guy, and had a cool device that was not radioactive, but allowed you to see an x-ray-like image in real time. He said he sees breaks like this all the time, and that it should heal up fine if it's splinted in the proper way. Thing 1 then got a cool, high-tech moldable plastic cast. They heat up the material, bend it into shape, then blast it with coolant (like the "magic spray" they use on soccer players) to harden it.

After a quick lunch we realized we would miss the 2pm ferry, so we killed time by going to the Scout store and Your Favorite Bookstore. A 5:45 ferry got us back to the island close to 7pm. Then we had dinner in Avalon and were back home by 9pm. (Exhausted.)

Hrm. We still haven't gotten to Thanksgiving yet. And there's one more trip to the mainland to relate. We had on the schedule already Sweetie's surgical follow-up, and now we also had Thing 1's follow-up. Then to add to holiday stress, Sweetie started experiencing some complications to her recovery. This led to a Saturday afternoon trip to Avalon for evaluation at the clinic. In the end, the doctors decided it wasn't an emergency, so the entire family ended up going over town the Monday before Thanksgiving with hopes that we would be back on the island before the big day. Thing 1's appointment was Tuesday afternoon and took all of 15 minutes for an x-ray (or whatever that thing was called), and everything was fine and we still didn't need surgery (whew!). That evening I took the boys to see Bolt, which was better than I expected, although not memorable.

Wednesday was Sweetie's appointment. We ended up spending ALL DAY (9:30 to 3:30) at the Norris Cancer Center, which, I might add, is a weird place to hang out because nearly everyone there either has cancer or is there in support of someone who has cancer. We felt like the healthy family. So Sweetie needed to see her doctor, get a CAT scan, and get juiced up with a liter of fluids, and like I said, it took all day. The Things were great. They had made up a trading game with a standard deck of cards, that made no sense to me, but it kept them busy a long time. We also found a MCD Playplace nearby, which allowed us to a) eat, and b) burn off some energy.

It was late enough in the day that we had missed the boat to Two Harbors, so we made reservations for the special Thanksgiving day ferry (thank you Catalina Express!). Sweetie was exhausted for the trip back. We had made reservations at the restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner, so getting home late like that was not a concern. We dressed up nicely for dinner (gracious living) and went down to the Harbor Reef. They serve a real whole turkey dinner there, and you get to take home your leftovers. Sweetie couldn't stay very long, but did have some turkey and stuffing with her family before I drove her home. The boys and I ate some more and had a nice chat with the waitress before heading back with turkey carcass in tow.

I have to say, I'm very thankful that we're on the far side of this Life Experience. And I'm thankful that everyone is mending well now. Here's to a return to normalcy.

In other news, USC's new boat that they were going to station out here for us to use has sunk. The waterfront manager left it tied to the dock during rough seas, and it broke loose and washed up on the rocky shore. They hauled the engines and fuel tank out of it, filled the hull with foam (so it would float) and towed it over to Avalon for scrapping. It was a nice boat, and our other one is still broken. (I meant to post about this, but forgot. We were crossing the channel one day, and the propeller broke off the drive shaft - seven miles out, and in the middle of the shipping lanes. Fun. We did have a banjo aboard, though, for entertainment.)

Okay. More trips to the mainland to come. Christmas is coming...

Halloween

Although Sweetie and I were over town for the Big Day, Mom and Sis stepped up and made the the day fun and candy-filled.

Surgery

So what happens when you live on an island and you need to handle a Big Event like surgery? Well, we faced just that issue. Sweetie has suffered from a nasty condition for a number of years now, and we decided it was time to have a surgical procedure that would solve the problem (although the solution has its challenges as well).

The procedure could not take place on the island, of course, so we were expecting to be off-island for at least a week, which meant we needed long-term care for the boys. We asked Sweetie's mom and sister if they could come out, and they very generously gave us three weeks of their time. (It was a life-saver; a million thanks.) Let the logistics ensue...

First, I would have to leave Monday to pick up Mom and Sis at the airport and drop them off at the ferry. Sweetie stayed on the island to greet them and give them 'orientation' on how to care for Things. She left Wednesday. That night, the Wrigley apartment was full, so we had to be in hotel for the surgical prep. This was abdominal surgery, so the prep was like if you were going to have a colonoscopy. It was fine. The hotel was quiet and comfortable. We watched (intermittently) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull on my laptop.

The next morning, we drove up to the USC University Hospital and checked in. After a while it was up to pre-op. We were nervous, naturally, and actually a little excited about how much better Sweetie would feel when it was all over. Finally the moment arrived, and it was off to the waiting room for me. Five hours later, the surgeon came down to tell me that things went fine.

Surgery is a drastic action, and should always be a last resort for solving medical problems. Too many variables for things to ever go smoothly, or at least as smoothly as you want them to. The first night was rough because they were having trouble managing Sweetie's pain. Then she caught thrush, which made eating (which wasn't easy to start with) harder. There was nausea and depression and all those things that are typical post-op issues that just make it harder than you'd hoped.

Meanwhile I was bouncing back and forth between San Pedro and LA, about an hour's drive each way. It was physically draining, but I figured out the secrets of where to park and when the buses ran from main campus to the Health Sciences Campus, and when you didn't have to feed the meters. I called Mom occasionally to report on Sweetie and find out how the boys were doing. They were behaving pretty well, but obviously there was some stress over us being away. Thing 2 kept asking when we were coming home.

Wednesday, we got our walking papers, and Sweetie survived the hour drive to the apartment, but I wouldn't say she enjoyed it. We were still having trouble finding things that she could eat and that were appetizing to her. There was a home care nurse who stopped by and suggested Ensure. This worked out pretty well. Our next hurdle was a fast pulse. The nurse asked us to watch it and if it went above 120, to go to the emergency room. Guess where we ended up. Thankfully, the ER we went to (in San Pedro) was not busy. We were seen really quickly by a very nice young doctor who told us it was probably dehydration. They pumped 2L of saline into Sweetie, and she said she was feeling much better.

This did delay our return to the island, however until the next Wednesday, two and one-half weeks after I originally left. Sweetie was still quite weak, but we got her on the boat. The ocean behaved for us, too. Getting home was great. Ms. Frizzle (the teacher) let the boys out early to come down and meet the boat. They were so excited. We got some excellent hugs. Mom and Sis stayed until Sunday, which was a great transition for us. As soon as they left we were showered with food and offers of help from various people in the community.

So now we're three weeks from the operation. Recovery continues to be slow and complicated by other issues. It's not easy, but we'll get through it. I've been coming home at lunch to take Sweetie for a walk on the beach, or help her fix her lunch or whatever. Something to relieve the tedium of healing.

As I said above, surgery is never a good option, but it was the best option. And, God willing, by Christmas Sweetie will be up and around and doing things she hasn't been able to do in a long time.

Thanks for everyone's cards, emails, thoughts and prayers.

Cub Scout Campout

Thing 1 and I went on a Cub Scout weekend campout recently at Camp Emerald Bay. Two other boys and their dads from our Pack also attended. The bulk of the group was from two other Packs from the mainland. We arrived before the other groups (not having to take a ferry), so we sat around and waited for them and Thing 1 got to know the other boys before things began, which was good. Since the Pack is in Avalon, we only go to occasional Den meetings, and monthly Pack meetings don't give much social time to the boys, and the other boys all go to school in Avalon. So Thing1 doesn't really know any of the other Cubs in his Pack. (Well, now he knows two...) Anyhoo, back to the story. The ferries were late, so we didn't have dinner until around 8pm, and then it was straight over to the campfire.

The campfire started badly. There were two fire rings, and staff members came out to light them. They lit the first, and while they were lighting the second, the first went out. So they went back to the first to work on it and the second went out. The MC was going through introductory stuff, and the staff struggled with Fire 1, going to get more kindling, etc. Finally, a leader from the audience jumped up and started working on Fire 2. After some huffing and puffing he got his fire burning while the staff still struggled with Fire 1. Not a good acquital of their Scout training...

Eventually, all fires were burning and the singing and skits commenced. A good time was had by all. At last, to the strains of the Camp Emerald Bay hymn, we silently strolled to our campsite (platform tents with metal bunks) and bundled up for bed. It was cold that night - I think it dipped into the 40s. I was worried Thing1 would be cold in his summer-weight kid's sleeping bag, so I put him in dry socks and a stocking cap and long jammies, and he stayed warm all night.

The next day the fun began. The camp had a number of activities for the boys. Many went fishing off the dock. Some did the geology belt loop, some went snorkeling, some went kayaking and canoeing, not many went swimming. We started off with BB guns and archery (earning two belt loops), and spent much of our time at the ranges. We also went on a hike to Parson's Landing Saturday afternoon. This was poorly done on our part. First of all, the hike was right after lunch, the hottest time of day (and it was hot). Second, there were about 70 people on the hike, so it was kind of crowded. (The other families from our Pack went Sunday morning and were the only people on the hike.) Third, we didn't wear our bathing suits, and Thing 1 really wanted to get in the water. He climbed on rocks instead.

Saturday evening there was a Pirate Festival after dinner. While the staff was setting that up, many kids started a chaotic soccer game, but Thing 1 isn't an organized-sports (or in this case, unorganized-sports) kind of kid, so he was running around with some other kids in the dark, playing some cops-and-robbers type of game called "Ding dong ditchers". I think this mainly consisted of knocking on the doors of the cabins and then running away, but I didn't ask too many questions... The festival was only so much fun, so Thing1 decided he wanted to hang out with his new friend D, instead. They were going over to the s'more fire. I said "Do you want me to come too?" Thing 1 thought about this a moment, and then said "Well, I think there will be enough adults around." Ditched by my own kid!

That night was not as cold. The next morning they had the activities open again. Oddly, there was no church service (although one of the Packs was sponsored by a synegogue, so maybe they decided to avoid awkwardness). We went canoeing around Indian Rock, had lunch and then took off for home. We'd had a good time, but it was time to go home. Thing2 was terribly jealous of our weekend campout, so I'll have to plan some sort of father/son outing for him sometime soon.

You know you're living in southern California when...

This morning I turned on the radio and the first thing I heard was "...the following schools will be closed..." Now on the east coast, this means it snow or ice has caused dangerous driving condtions (or if you're in North Carolina there might be the threat of snow). But in southern California, they close schools because of fire. Wildfire season is upon us again.

The Santa Anna winds have kicked up. This weekend, boats in the cove were rocking and eucalyptus bark (thankfully no limbs) was flying. Sweetie was supposed to take a boat to LA this morning, but because of the wind, the channel was too rough, and her boat was delayed until it was too late for her to make her appointment, so she will try again tomorrow. WMSC has the only dock that is protected from the swell when the winds are from the east, so this morning we had ferries that were supposed to land at Howland's landing, Emerald Bay and Cherry Cove all disembark here. They also all arrived at about the same time, so we had about two hours of various groups meandering up the hill, gathering at the amphitheater and then departing on buses or on foot. Quite a production.

I think the winds are supposed to calm down a bit for the rest of the week. If you'd like to play along at home, you can check out wind vectors for our area, or the sea and swell map.

Figaro

In August, when we were on our way to Illinois, we stopped at the barber to get haircuts for the Things and I. At the time, the lady asked me what guard I wanted on the clippers and I said "four". 

"Four!" she replied, "That's too short. I think you should use a seven." Now having been present at all my previous haircuts, I knew for certain that I usually had a four or a three guard used, but for some reason I relented, thinking that perhaps she had a different clipper set and knew that a four would indeed be too short.

Alas. Turns out I was right, that a seven was too long, and now I am suffering bad hair (let's bold caps that) BAD HAIR because it is too long and it's been too long since I've had a hair cut. I should have an opportunity next week, however, to get to a barber.

Ahh the odd trials of island life.

Buffaloes before breakfast

With the approach of the rainy season, things are getting maximally dry on the island. What this mostly means is that the bison and deer are starting to wander into town again. For instance, this morning...



We have also had to deal with bison taking over the volleyball court at the lab (they like to roll in the sand - it helps get rid of parasites), and causing traffic jams on the road to the lab.

As long as I'm at it, I'll talk about the new school year. Everyone was very excited the night before. The Things tried on all their clothes (after a bit of prodding) to see what fit. We managed to convince Thing2 to wear a button-up shirt for his first day. The next morning, after a good breakfast, we all walked down to the schoolhouse together. Every year they have a little ceremony on the front steps. The kids run the flag up the flag pole and everyone says the Pledge of Allegiance. Then Ms Frizzle took them all inside the schoolhouse and we parents drifted off, kid-free for the first time in several months.

Thing 2's first day went very well. He is working on his reading and writing. I think it will be good for him socially, too, to be in school. The older kids won't see him as a 'baby' anymore, and will probably be more willing to play with him. Thing 1 is also doing very well. He's always been a good reader, and now his writing skills (and his willingness to write) are improving. He also is getting better at staying on task and finishing assignments, although we still have some work to do there.

A late surprise was the addition of another kindergartner to the school. The daughter of the woman who manages the general store moved to Two Harbors with her daughter, so now Thing2 has a classmate (let's call her Fern). Thing 2 has so far had trouble playing with Fern because, well, she's a girl. We've tried to explain that he needs to play with Fern because there aren't a lot of other options, and it seems to be slowly sinking in. Slowly.

The teacher handles having four different grades (there are no first or fourth graders this year) by having stations. Each grade level goes to a different station for 40 minutes at a time. Ms Frizzle bounces from station to station, explaining, teaching, assisting, and then moves on to the next. The kids get occasional music instruction from a very nice couple who don't live on the island, but try to visit frequently. They sing songs with the kids and teach ukulele. They also get art instruction from the teacher's aide. Last year they made these cool reindeer heads out of palm fronds.

The title of this post, by the way is the title of the Magic Treehouse book on which Thing 1 did his first book report. He had to design a cereal based on the book and make a cereal box with information about the characters, plot, etc. It was also a lesson in how advertisers try to entice you to buy their product. Clever!

Anyhoo, I hope everyone watched the VP debate tonight. I think Biden clearly won on points, but Palin exceeded expectations (by not botching it completely), so both sides could claim victory here. The Presidential debate last week (or whenever it was) I thought was pretty much a tie in terms of performance, but it was Obama there that exceeded expectations. That being said, I don't agree with any of McCain/Palin's policy statements, and I do agree with Obama/Biden's. And another thing I like about the Dem ticket is that they're not afraid to agree with their opponents, or say that they have admirable qualities. Who do you think has a chance of breaking partisan gridlock in Congress: the guy who refuses to admit to any common ground with his opponent or the guy who is happy to point out that there are places where they agree? Vote your conscience, but hey, I'm just saying.

On a final note, I've discovered John Fahey in the last couple days. Wow.

Farmward bound

For one last bit of summer fun, we loaded up the family and traveled to Sweetie's mother's farm in Illinois. Our flights there were on Frontier Air, which I'd never flown before, but I certainly would again. Plenty of legroom, no delays, no baggage charge, and there were mini-TVs built into the seats in case our cheapness was overwhelmed by whiny children. (Thing1 did get to watch Kung-fu Panda on the second leg; Thing2 fell asleep before takeoff.)

Arriving in St. Louis was interesting. We got off the plane, got our luggage and headed out to the pick-up zone. When we got outside, I thought to myself, "What is that? It's some sort of unpleasant heat." And then it struck me. Humidity! What I was feeling was humidity. It had been quite a while since I felt that. Sweetie had the same experience and we shared a chuckle over this. Dinner at Aunt T's house afforded me the opportunity to watch some of the USA vs. Guatemala CONCACAF World Cup qualifier. (I'll provide a link because I'm guessing most of you have no idea what CONCACAF is.) The Things got to jump on the trampoline. Apparently, Aunt T has a squirrel that also enjoys the trampoline. We didn't see it, but she told a very funny story about watching it jump out of the tree and run around on the trampoline.

We had a very nice time a Grandma W's. She has recently purchase a John Deere Gator, and the kids (the Things and their cousins) had a good time riding around in it. I gave Thing1 some driving lessons (terrifying - Dad, I now fully appreciate your efforts in the Caprice Classic). We went to check the mail. We drove to the pond. We even took the Gator to Cousin L's farm to see farm animals. I drove. It was a long drive in the gator, what with the bugs hitting my face, and the rain that started. But we made it, only to realize that Thing 2 hadn't brought shoes with him. Ah well. We saw the goats and the sheep and the chickens and the horse. Thing2 was thrilled.

One day we went up to Springfield to see the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and the Lincoln Home National Historic Site. First we visited the home and the Things earned another Jr. Ranger Badge. It was awesome (not in the seventh grade meaning) to visit the house and think of the conversations that must have taken place there. Some of the Lincoln's original furniture was there, including Abe's writing desk. After a quick lunch, we strolled over to the Museum, which is quite new and very well done. They have excellent multimedia presentations (one with cannon fire!), and a walk-through history of his life. I highly recommend it if you're ever in Springfield.

Besides that it was pretty much just playing with cousins, going fishing (I caught a tree!), a few visits to the hayloft (which is ever emptier of hay and fuller of racoon poop), and playing with the farm kittens, and even shucking some corn. A good time all around. Thing 2 even got so tired one day that he fell asleep sitting up in his chair!

Then it was home again to prepare for the first day of school. A big day in Thing 2's life. But more on that later...

Camp

Thing 1 went off to camp in August, his first real sleep-away experience (he did attend a day camp last summer that had one overnight). The camp he went to (Catalina Island Camps)is on the island. It's a very nice place and we know the people who run the place because they have a son Thing 1's age. Drop-off for most kids attending is at the San Pedro ferry terminal. I talked to Holly about whether we should just drop Daniel off at camp, or if we should take him over to San Pedro, and she said that meeting your cabin mates and counselor at the terminal and the ferry ride over was part of the experience. So on Monday, Thing 1 and I boarded the 8am ferry for San Pedro. Once on the mainland, we went shopping for camp supplies - assorted clothing, toiletries, etc. Then it was over to McDonald's (of course) for lunch, and then back to the ferry terminal for drop-off.

We met his counselor, and found out he would be in the Tugboat cabin. We met some other boys and their parents. At last the time to board came, and off they all went to their boat. I killed another hour and a half, and then caught another ferry back to the island. A long day of travel for all of us.

During his week at camp, we sent emails to Thing 1 through a web service, but, alas, we never heard back from him (despite sending him off with 5 postcards). The camp did post photos every day, and a few even showed Thing 1 having a good time. Some of the activities Thing 1 did were swimming (every day), archery, riflery (BB guns), climbing wall, hiking, sailing, slicing (that's being dragged behind a motorboat on a floaty thing), campfires with skits, kayaking, snorkeling, and bouncing on the giant floating trampoline.

Thing 2 felt very special all week, being the only boy in the house. He got to watch the movies he wanted, didn't have to share toys, and had Mom and Dad all to himself. But he did say several times that he missed his brother, especially at bedtime.

All too soon, camp was over. Sweetie drove over to pick him up (rather than go through the ferry rigmarole again). The first words out of his mouth were "Can I go back next year?" He came home without his water bottle, his bath towel, his swim shirt, any of his toiletries (including the bag), his sleeping bag stuff sack, the post cards, or the disposable camera. Sigh. Fortunately, we live close by and can probably rummage around the lost & found.

So all in all a good experience for everyone - no separation anxiety on either end (parents or kid), lots of fun for the camper, and a little peace and quiet for the kid who stayed home.

During this time, Sweetie was teaching a class over at the Wrigley. It was a college-level class for high school students. They had ten days at WMSC, and then ten days on a tall ship sailing around the Southern California bight. Sweetie just covered the land part, but it did keep her busy. Long days of teaching and then preparing for the next day's lectures. The other teacher and the TA's were very nice. The kids for the most part were smart and engaged. Many were from private and/or boarding schools back East; some had been chosen for their academic merit from more modest backgrounds. This led to some interesting and world-view broadening conversations, no doubt. They studied oceanography and marine biology and did a lot of snorkeling and even a small research project in those ten days. It was exhausting, but Sweetie enjoyed it enough that she's interested in doing it again next summer.

More soon about our trip to Illinois and the start of another school year...

Rumblings and birthdays

So we have now experienced our first California earthquake. It really wasn't much here, even though we were only ~60 miles from the epicenter. I was sitting at my desk and there was a back-and-forth, back-and-forth motion. It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds - just enough to get that 'what is that?' feeling. I immediately tried to call Sweetie, but, of course the phone lines were jammed. I didn't realize that it had been a much bigger quake on the mainland. The Things were a little freaked out by it, but like I said, it wasnt' much.

Both Things have had birthdays recently, Thing1 turning 8 and Thing2 turning 5. Thing1 got a boogie board which we took to Shark Harbor last weekend to try out. It took a little while for him to get hang of catching waves, but by the end of the afternoon, he was getting some pretty good rides. I had to try it out, too. It was fun, although I did get a lot of sand in my suit. Today we are having a combined, belated birthday party for the Things. Since there are a limited number of kids in town, everyone's invited. It'll be a simple fun-on-the-beach, grill-some-food party.

Tourist season is really in full swing here. The harbor fills up every weekend, and there are many people visiting the lab and wandering around town. Despite this, it still seems quiet here (except Friday and Saturday nights, when we can quite clearly hear the DJ at the bar until about 12:30am).

Visitors and vacation

We had our first visitors to the island. My Mom and Dad and Auntie N came for an exhausting time. For the visitors, the visit started with a flight to LAX and a stay overnight in a local hotel. The next day they caught the noon ferry to the island and we met them at the dock. That afternoon, we took a hike to the end of Catalina Harbor and looked at the ocean. Thing2 got tired on the way back and had to be carried partway.

The next morning we went kayaking over at WMSC. Thing2 was quite firm about being scared of going, so he and Sweetie stayed behind. Grammy and Grandpa took up one boat, Auntie N paired with Thing1, and I had a boat to myself. We paddled around the point, looking at the kelp beds and fishes below, to a place called Blue Caverns. This is a cave that runs through an outcropping such that, when the tide is right, you can kayak right through from one side to the other. There was a tall ship there as well letting kids (probably some sort of camp experience) paddle through in pairs. We had hit the tide just right, and paddled through both ways. Then we headed out to Bird Rock. Thing1 was gold-bricking pretty badly at this point and was told there was no lunch for those who didn't paddle. On our way out, we saw a sea lion sticking its head out of the water. Bird Rock was not as stinky as it sometimes is, which was nice. We went all the way around and then headed for the little cove next to Big Fisherman (I'm not sure what its name is) because sea lions often sun there on the rocks when it's low tide. But it was high tide, so we headed back to the boat ramp.

That afternoon we toured around the lab a little bit and then drove out to Middle Ranch. We did some sightseeing at the Shark Harbor overlook, and then stopped to see Tachi, the captive Catalina Island Fox. These foxes are thought to have been brought over by the Native Americans who lived on the island and have evolved to be very small. She was sleeping in one of her little hidey-holes when we got there, but very obligingly aroused herself and wandered around her enclosure checking us out. Grammy and Auntie N really liked the fox. We also stopped by the eagle cage. Both of these were good stops, because we didn't see any other foxes or eagles on our trip.

The next day, we drove to Avalon. We stopped at the Airport in the Sky for lunch (bison burgers - yum!) and then drove down into town and wandered over to the Casino (not a gambling casino - it used to be a large dancehall, back in the days of dancehalls). There is a little museum in the lower level. We met one of the docents, Jeannie, who was very enthusiastic about Catalina history. Next it was off to the botanical gardens. It's been around for about 80 years and has a great collection of Channel Island species and succulents (think big cactuses). We also climbed the William Wrigley Memorial, where his body was at one time interred. Then it was back across the island. We made one stop to hike out to an overlook above WMSC, and then it was back home.

We weren't exhausted enough, so the next day we went snorkeling. Again, Thing2 raised objections, so I stayed with him (looking around a little close to shore) while the others splashed around. I've always thought that in a wetsuit, everyone looks like a superhero. Unfortunately, everyone looks like a dork in a snorkel mask. But we saw lots of cool fish, some of which we were even able to identify! (Garribaldi.) For lunch we picnicked at Ben Westin beach. To get there, you have to drive to the trailhead and then hike 1.7 miles to the beach, but when you get there... We had the beach to ourselves. The surf was pounding, the kids were running around getting rolled by the waves. It was great. And to top it off, we only had minimal whining on the hike back to the truck.

Friday was our day of 'rest'. We packed up some camping gear and boarded the ferry for the mainland. We stayed overnight in a hotel so the boys could swim in a pool and took off the next morning for Joshua Tree National Park. On the way there we drove through a massive wind farm. And then the temperature began to climb. It turns out we once again planned our vacation during a heat wave. By the time we got to the southern entrance to the park it was 114°F. Not much chance of seeing any wildlife at that temperature. We drove north through the park, hopping out to read signs, walk through the cholla garden and climb on rocks. Thing2 turned out to be a great lizard spotter, finding a big collared lizard sitting in a crevice. That evening Grammy and Grandpa were smart enough to stay in a motel; the rest of us camped. We were, in fact, the only people, uh, brave enough to camp that night. The rest of the campground was empty. I think the temperature had dropped to about 100° by 9pm. We worked on the Things' Jr. Ranger badges. We made a small campfire and had s'mores. This was interesting because the chocolate bars had completely melted, so we cut off a corner of the wrapper and squeezed it out like toothpaste. It was hard to sleep in the heat. And then the full moon came up. About 4am it actually started to cool off, but I wouldn't say it was a restful night of sleep.

The next day, Grammy and Grandpa's rental car wouldn't start. They spent the morning dealing with that (they did get to go to Palm Springs...) while we did some more visiting in the park. We foolishly decided to take a short hike. I mean, hey, it was only 95°! Once we convinced the Things that climbing every rock in site was not a great idea in this heat, the whining from Thing2 began. We still had another 3 1/2 miles to go. It was a hot hike, made extremely tedious by intermittent tantrums. But the rock formations were quite striking. We decided that we had proven our toughness and left Joshua tree to meet Grammy and Grandpa for lunch.

But vacation wasn't over. Not yet. There was one final stop: Channel Islands National Park. We drove to Ventura and stayed overnight. The next morning we took a ferry over to Santa Cruz. Oh they tried to scare us off with talk of four foot swells at 7-8 seconds and unusually strong morning winds, but we were on a mission. The boat had a school group on it that was having a grand old time - for the first twenty minutes. Then it got quiet, and then the barfing began. Sweetie, Auntie N and I had all taken dramamine, Grammy and Grandpa have strong stomachs (or wills), and the Things have never shown any ill effects from the sea, so we were all alright. But we were all glad to get off the boat. We hiked one trail that took us up for a look over the channel. The water was rife with whitecaps. This is where I took a picture that must include whales. Then we hiked back down to the campground and had a picnic lunch. A passing ranger told us where we might see the elusive Island Scrub Jay, so after lunch we started another hike, but we misinterpreted the rangers directions. Sweetie and Thing2 turned back at this point (a wise choice). The rest of us continued the Death March. The trail started to go up. Then it went up some more. Then it really started to climb. I wasn't sure Grammy was going to make it. Thing1 was a real trooper, not whining one little bit the whole time. Finally we made it to the top. I took a picture of some distant valleys that I'm sure includes an Island Scrub Jay or two. From there it was all down hill. We got back to the beach to find Thing2 filling the ocean up with rocks. The ferry was back (a little late and noticeably empty). The winds had kicked up even more, but now we were traveling with them, so the ride back was much smoother.

We were barely able to stand up at this point, but we had a farewell dinner, and Grammy and Grandpa and Auntie N headed off. We headed back to San Pedro. Vacation was over. We all had a great time, but I'm not sure I could've taken another day of it.

End of school-year excitement

Today was the last day of school. There have been a few special events leading up to this momentous day. First was the 20th anniversary party for Two Harbors Elementary School. In 1998 the school was established so the little kids in the community wouldn't have to ride a bus 90 minutes to Avalon and 90 minutes home. Many VIPs and former students and teachers showed up. It was a nice party, punctuated by the current school kids performing 26 Miles Across the Sea on ukuleles and singing You've Got a Friend in Me.

Soon after was the annual school sleep-over, which was combined with the awards banquet this year. We all went over to Howland's Landing, had some dinner, gave out some awards, ate some s'mores, watched improvised interpretive dance with a s'mores theme, got ready for bed, and then didn't sleep because it was so exciting to be staying overnight. The next morning, the groggy parents ate pancakes and then left the kids to have a day of fun at the camp. Everyone was exhausted after this one - especially the teacher (God bless her!).

This morning we had an early Father's day breakfast down at the snack bar and then the kids had a field day before cleaning out their desks until the fall. Mrs. Barney was an excellent teacher, and we're very glad she'll be back in the fall.

I should mention at this point that Sweetie has returned from her trip east mostly tanned and mosquito-bitten. It's very good to have her back. You can tell the Things are excited to see her becuase they're acting particularly crazy. Maybe I can convince her to post some pictures from the trip...

So what could top all this excitement? How about office furniture? My co-worker John and I got new office furniture, and, since we live on an island, it came unassembled so we spent the last week putting together desks, bookshelves and cabinets. But it's all done now and the office looks spiffy.

What? You say office furniture isn't exciting? Okay, how about a shed? Yes, a shed for our backyard. It also came unassembled, so as soon as I get the lumber for the foundation (which should come tomorrow) I will erect it in our backyard, and THEN we can clear the camping gear our of the office closet so we can put kitchen stuff in it! We will also be able to de-clutter the backyard!

Huh? That's not exciting either? Well, I've got one more project that even the not-easily-stimulated should enjoy: gardening. We got in seeds and planters and we're ready to garden up a storm in the backyard. I've even talked to the facilities guy about switching out the sprinkler heads for drip lines. This should keep us busy for a little while and may brighten up our barren dusty backyard until they install our patio.

So that's a lot of news for one day. Hopefully there will be some exciting news in the near future...

Wolf

Our final Pack meeting for the year was held the first Monday in June. Thing1 received his Wolf badge, three Arrow Points, and the Bicycling belt loop. He was very excited, as was Thing2, who found a kid his age to play with during the ceremonies.

Unfortunately, Sweetie missed the ceremony because she was still in the Bahamas. This also means I don't have any photos to post.

On to Bear!!!

Homecoming

So this post is a bit belated, but Kevin is back home. We went over to Avalon to pick him up on May 30 after two weeks at the vet's. I was expecting a really large bill, but Dr. Denney treated us as well as he treated Kevin, so much so, that I feel the need to encourage people to support his clinic through the Catalina Island Humane Society. If you are moved to contribute to this cause, please do so. Kevin and the probably hundreds of other cats treated by Dr. Denney thank you.

So we took Kevin home and Thing1 wanted to take him out and play with him immediately, but I thought maybe we should let Happy get used to having another cat in the house, so we kept him in the carrier for a few minutes so they could sniff each other. There was a little bit of posturing, but no real unhappiness, so we let Kevin out. Those two cats jumped right on each other and started rolling around, biting and chewing and chasing, and they kept it up for at least 3 solid hours. Happy was so happy to have someone to chew on, and Kevin seemed glad to see her, too. Then they fell asleep in a little pile of cat.


So now Happy is no longer attacking our feet, hands, hair, etc, which is pleasant news. Although both cats have recently begun climbing our legs when we're sitting at the table (or sometimes just standing in the kitchen). This is slightly painful when we're wearing jeans, and downright diabolical when we're wearing shorts! They are also moving away from simple wrestling games to chasing games, which are fun to watch.

One other thing I've noticed is that even though two cats only eat twice as much food, the mess in the litter box seems to have quadrupled.

Ah, kittens.

Tragedy

I'm sure many of you have by now heard about the helicopter crash in Two Harbors. Here is our story of it, which is peripheral. Saturday mornings I usually sleep in until 8am and then make scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, but this morning was different. For one, we were out of both eggs and bacon. In addition, we had plans to take the 2pm ferry to the mainland, so we couldn't laze about like we normally do. To help matters along, I also wasn't feeling well - something I ate, no doubt. So I was dragging myself around, trying to figure out what we would eat, when I turned on the radio to the local NPR station. I was half listening as I puttered around the kitchen until "helicopter crash...Catalina island..." filtered it's way into my ears. And just as I was assuming it happened near Avalon, I also heard "west end...Two Harbors." I immediately tried to call our friends who live on the WMSC campus because there's a helipad there and I thought it might have happened while someone was trying to land there. I couldn't reach them, and then heard a large helicopter fly over our house, so I poked my head our our front door to see a Sheriff's Department helicopter landing in the large field behind the Isthmus Yacht Club. Walking down to the end of our housing cluster, I could see the the pumper truck, the Baywatch rescue vehicles, another rescue helicopter and a black scar across the field. This happened less than half a mile from our house! I think the pilot did a heroic job of not crashing in town. I don't know if he was one of the survivors, but God bless him, either way.

Here is a picture of the scene. The building up on the hill is the Banning House Lodge (the hotel in town). Fortunately it has been wet (of all things - it's late in the season for rain) recently. It rained Friday, and was damp that day, otherwise the field fire could have been worse. At this point at least one victim had been airlifted out. The others were being cared for behind the yellow rescue truck.


There were six people on the helicopter - the pilot and five passengers. Three survived. I found out today that a good friend of ours was one of the first on the scene and helped pull the survivors out of the wreckage. I like to think that I'd be brave enough to do the same, but you don't know until you face that test, and I'd rather not be in that situation. Below is a closer picture of the wreckage. It's hard to believe anyone survived. I've been on one of these helicopters once. There really isn't much to them, which is clear from the remains.



It was a tragedy, and it was very close to us physically, but it was distant emotionally; we had no connections to any of the people on the helicopter (other than I might have flown on that helicopter at one point, or with that pilot), so to us and many of the other Memorial Day weekend visitors, it felt like a spectator event, like watching one of the 24-hour news channels.

There was no reason for us to postpone our trip, so the Things and I boarded the ferry and headed over to LA. This was mostly a trip for fun, so we saw Speed Racer that night (which was better than I expected; Thing1 was so excited during the climactic race that he was bouncing in his seat and clapping). The next day we did some shopping, including a trip to the Toys R Us so the Things could spend some allowance money, and also went to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which had great exhibits, a ton of educational material, sea creature costumes for the little ones, and had free admittance (although they ask for a donation). After that exhausting day, we saw Prince Caspian (pretty much what I expected - very good, but not great). We also had a bit of a junk food binge: little chocolate donuts (sorry for the add, but it's worth it for the higher video quality) for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch and pizza for dinner. This morning it was a quick trip to the grocery store and then back to the ferry. Both boys fell asleep on the ferry within 20 minutes of our arrival. Thing2 actually fell asleep as we passed Bird Rock (which is at the entrance to the harbor).

With all the fun we had over town, I guess this post could have been titles Joy and Sadness, too. Speaking of which, we'll probably be picking Kevin up tomorrow. Oh, and Sweetie called me from Miami yesterday, so she got that far okay. This morning she was scheduled to fly to San Salvador. I've survived the first week of her absence. Two more to go...

Joy and sadness

So first, take a look at the video below (if you've got broadband).



Meet Happy and Kevin, littermates from a feral cat that lives near the Del Rey Yacht Club. The caretaker traps young kittens each year and turns them in to the animal shelter in Avalon. He gave us two on Mother's Day. We took them home and gave them baths because they didn't smell so good and were filthy. Then the Things started terrorizing them.

Kevin had a gooey eye, which the next day turned into two gooey eyes and a runny nose, which the next day turned into a wheezy breathing, with eyes that didn't really open. We were really worried about this, and so tried to get a vet appointment for Wednesday. Now there is a vet in Avalon, but it just so happened that he was out of town because of a death in the family, and wouldn't be back until Saturday, which we feared would be too late. So Wednesday morning the kittens we popped into a carrier, and I drove across the island to catch a ferry for a mainland emergency run. This may seem like an awful amount of effort for an easily replaceable kitten, but Thing 1 had grown attached to Kevin (this was 'his' cat), so parental love overrules logic. The vet looks at Kevin, prescribes 3 antibiotics (one for eyes, one for nose and one oral) and back we go to the ferry terminal for the return trip. That night Kevin seemed a little better.

But the next day, Kevin stopped eating and slept all day, sounding no better and maybe worse. We talked to Thing 1 about there being no guarantee that Kevin would get better despite our best efforts, and his response was suitably sorrowful. We went to bed that night with the awful feeling that little Kevin would no be with us the next morning.

But when we awoke, Kevin was still wheezing away. He seemed no worse than the day before, which was hopeful. Still not eating though, so I retrieved a dropper from work and we force fed him some milk. I managed to arrange for a visit to the local vet Saturday afternoon.

Now some of you may be asking why all this fell on my shoulders, why Sweetie didn't take Kevin to the vet. Well, she has just left to teach a three week course on tropical marine ecology at her former place of empolyment. She has been going crazy the last few weeks trying to get lectures prepared, gear assembled and packed, and make sure there's food and clean clothes for us for at least the first week she's gone. We had planned to all go over to the mainland with her on Friday and spend a night and a day playing before she had to leave, but Kevin's condition forced us to cancel that. (How's that old joke go? We'd call up the cat-sitter and she'd say "Uh, your cat climbed up on the roof...")

So yesterday we had a send-off picnic for Sweetie (down at the rope swings) and put her on the 2pm ferry, and then the Things and I jumped in the car to head to Avalon. This was an interesting trip. It started with me removing the muffler, which had broken loose from the catalytic converter, and throwing it in the back. Then I realized we had forgotten some paperwork, so we had to turn around. And then the truck started making a funny buzzing noise under the hood, which I initially thought was related to removing the muffler. When I stopped and raised the hood, I saw that the bracket that holds the stick that holds the hood up (STHTHU) (is there a technical term for that?) had broken, and the STHTHU had jostled down onto the radiator fan. One piece of rope later, we were back on the road. It was one of those days, too, when all the bison seem to want to stand in the middle of the road.

So we finally get to Avalon and manage to find the vet's office (not too difficult, but also not obvious). Dr Denney takes a look, gets that concerned look on his face, and makes the bad 'hmmm' sound. To him it looks like a calicivirus or maybe a herpesvirus (which would be why the antibiotics weren't helping), and a very bad infection, but one he thought Kevin would survive (although there may be damage to his eyes). So he's keeping Kevin for the week so he can give him intravenous fluids and some antivirals. I'm sure this will end up being more expensive than the ~$200 I spent on Wednesday taking the silly cats to the mainland vet, but again, love > logic.

So we got ice cream and came home.

Happy seems like she may have a much less severe case of the same thing (a barely runny eye, and a sniffle). We'll keep and eye on her.

So the boys have learned quite a bit this week about the joy and sadness associated with having pets. Okay, Thing 1 has. Thing 2 is still a little too young to really get it and not say things like "Kevin's going to die, but Happy is okay" at the dinner table.

Encroaching Brown

The island has decided that the rainy season is over. Many flowers are fading, and all the grasses are going to seed, turning brown, and dying off. You can see the blight of brown appearing on the peaks and creeping down the hillsides. It's daily progress is impressive.

We did have a good rainy season this year; I think there was less than 5 inches of measurable rain in 2007, and in 2008 we're over a dozen. The ponds, lakes and reservoirs in the interior are all full now, and the bison and deer populations should be well fed for the summer lean times. So while I complained about the mud we had to deal with over the winter, we're certainly thankful for the water. But now it's back to dust. As we were driving over to Avalon today, I was using the rear windshield wiper to clear the accumulating dust from rear window.

We were going to Avalon for Springfest, a peculiar little festival for the locals in support of various organizations (the high school, the Scouts, etc.). It was a weird vibe. Many people used it as an open market/garage sale. There were some games and a moon bounce (unclear what the money being collected was going to - maybe just the owner of the bounce), but we were there for charitable work. The Cub Scouts were selling baked goods for the Great American Bake Sale. Thing1 helped sell cookies for his allotted hour. Many of the goodies on the table disappeared in that time, some into us. Afterwards, Sweetie and Thing1 tried their hand at archery (the Scout booth), but we couldn't convince Thing2 to take a pony ride.

Speaking of animals, on the way there, we almost ran over a large (~3 ft) rattlesnake that was crossing the road. We stopped and got out and (using a looong stick) prodded the feisty reptile to the side of the road. It didn't rattle at us, but it was hissing. Shortly thereafter, we picked up two high school kids who were returning from a weekend of camping at Shark Harbor. They were hiking back to Avalon, but it's a long way, so we offered them a ride. The island being the island, we had some common acquaintances, and so had a pleasant conversation on the way.

Hmm. I guess that's something we'd never do on the other side of the channel...

Pinewood Derby

Gentlemen, start your...uh...well, just sit there and wait for gravity to take effect.

Yes! It's that time of year when little boys all over the country watch their dads build the cars they wanted to build as youth (while watching their dads build the cars..., etc.)



Daniel and I put together a slick-looking racer that initially weighed 6.2 oz (well over the 5 oz limit), necessitating the boring out of a cockpit. Our snazzy paint job was achieved with markers, since the hardware store on the island only carried oil-based paints. And after some minor confusion about the date of the race (leading to a drive through a marathon and a game of miniature golf), the big day arrived.




Pack 400 holds its Pinewood Derby outdoors at the Wrigley Pavilion down by the beach in Avalon. It was a beautiful sunny day, and quite a few tourists stopped by to watch the action and buy baked goods. Since both the Pack and the associated Scout Troop are so small, they let the Scouts participate, too. Each Den (Tiger, Wolf, Bear and Webelos, and the Scouts) races separately to determine Den winners, then they have a run-off of all the winners for an overall winner. This Pack also has a Friends & Family race (so dad can build his own car) and a corporate sponsor race ('no rules', but a higher entry fee). Thing1 did pretty well. He placed second in both races for his Wolf Den, and thus won himself a second place medal. He even (without prompting) went over to the Wolf winner and said "Nice race." No one cried (a first, apparently). Thing2 really enjoyed watching the races, and we decided that next year he'd get to enter a car in the Friends & Family competition.

Orca pictures

Okay, just so you don't think I was too spoiled, this is typical of the views of the orcas that I got from the boat I was on (it was still pretty cool, though):



Now here are some better pictures (I'd credit the photographer, but I'm not sure who it was):

Easter and comings and goings and Wiggling

Easter on the island was a new experience. We couldn't find our Easter decorations and baskets, so we had to make due with what was about. We dyed eggs Saturday night, and the Easter Bunny dutifully hid them around the living room. Instead of Easter Baskets we had Easter Mixing Bowls, but the Things didn't mind.

One of the yacht clubs holds an Easter egg hunt in town. They hide plastic eggs full of candy and one Golden Egg with some bigger prize (I think it's something like $50). The younger kids were on the beach this year, and the older kids were up at the playground and 'amphitheater'. Both things had a great time and found lots of eggs. No Golden Egg for us this year, though. It was a beautiful day. We went down to the beach and ran around. The Things did go into the water some, but it was pretty cold, even for them. We did have one 'tragedy' when Thing2 knocked over his bubble mix, but all in all it was a lovely day.

We also had to say goodbye to Thing1's friend Y (you remember Y from a previous post). His folks decided to start a move back to Alaska, so they cast off into the, well, I guess sunrise, since this is the west coast.

Easter, of course, means Spring Break for the school kids, and the LRSH closed its doors to give Ms. Barney a well-deserved rest. We took the opportunity to go over to LA for a weekend and see the Wiggles in their latest roadshow. We stayed in a hotel so the Things got to swim in the pool. We also stopped by the bookstore so our voracious reader (Thing1) could re-load.

One last note on the topic of comings and goings: Tuesday, I arrived at work to find a group of students hustling down to the dock to hop on a boat. It seems a pod of orcas had been spotted just off the island, and they were going to have a look. So I hurried down and asked if I could tag along. Twenty minutes later we could see dorsal fins and some tails flipping out of the water. A few times we even saw flukes. One of the students took some pictures. I'll try to get some posted, although I don't know how good they are.

Captain Doctor Uncle Bill

A few weeks ago, I attended a Limited Captain's License class. This means that I received sufficient training for me to be eligible to get a license from the state to carry passengers on a boat up to 5 miles from the coast of Catalina (thus the 'Limited' part of the title). The University suggested I take this class so that I will be able to take students in a boat, since undergrad students (since they pay tuition) are considered paying customers if we put them on a boat. At least that's my understanding of the situation, which may not be entirely correct.

Anyhoo, I passed the class with flying colors (93.3% on the final!) and I knew the knots (bowline, clove hitch, square knot, cleat tie). We learned to set off emergency flares and which life preservers needed to be aboard. In order to actually get the license, however, I need to have 60 days where I spend at least four hours in a position of responsibility on a boat. Now I don't know if you knew this, but I do bioinformatics. Not too much computer work needs to be done on a boat. So I'm now constantly looking for excuses to go on a boat.

Coincidentally, one arose yesterday. The island faculty (J, K and myself) went 'over town' for a non-existent faculty meeting (that's another story). I helped cast off, and acted as look-out on the way over, and Captain K let me drive the boat on the way back. Don't flinch, most of the trip was accomplished by an on-board navigation system, but I am happy to report that I did not collide with 1) the sailboat in the harbor, 2) Ship Rock, and 3) Bird Rock, and I did manage to hit the dock gently enough for it to be considered docking (barely). And I helped moor the boat afterwards.

I was very proud of myself (naturally), and thus I have decided that my nieces and nephews must now call me Captain Doctor Uncle Bill, instead of just Doctor Uncle Bill.

Speaking of nieces and nephews, congratulations to the Nokomis Boys Baskteball team for being runners-up in the Illinois Class 1A State Championship, and especially Coach Steve (my brother-in-law) and his son Wade, a senior and co-captain on the team.

P.S. Go Duke.

A visit from the king

This past weekend was the dedication ceremony for the George and MaryLou Boone Center for Science and Environmental Leadership. This was a Big Deal. A ferry was chartered to bring all the celebrants over from the mainland. University President Sample was there (which meant the event was handled by a special team from Events Planning), Dean Gillman was there. Out-going Wrigley Director Tony Michaels was there (as was incoming Director Donal Manahan). The Wrigley Board of Trustees were there. George and MaryLou were, of course, there. And Bob and Betty Plumleigh brought along their friend King Nebuchadnezzar.

Since this was a Big Deal, and since the Plumleighs and the Boones are old friends, and since Bob's business is importing very nice European wines and liquers, he had specially commissioned a Nebuchadnezzar of Drappier champagne. The Boone Center is itself a very impressive sight, looking very much like an Italian villa dropped in the middle of the Wrigley campus, but I've never seen anything like a Nebuchadnezzar of champagne. They served glasses of champagne to the ~250 guests and there was still about 1 1/2 gallons left in the bottle. After the ferry returned the VIPs to the mainland, the staff had a jolly time finishing off the champagne (pictures withheld by request of their families).

In all seriousness, though, the day could not have gone better. (Well, Duke could've beaten Carolina that evening, but that's totally unrelated.) The weather was beautiful, the channel was calm, the island was beautiful, the grounds were immaculate, everything happened on schedule, maybe not enough sunscreen was used, but really it was a wonderful event. We hope to fill the Boone Center for years to come with Science and Environmental Leaders.

I'll add some photos to this post soon.

Spring preview

I'm not trying to rub it in or anything, but as I said in my last post, the weather is turning nice, and with all the rain we got, there are many flowers in bloom on the island. This Sunday we took a walk down West End Rd to look at and photograph some of the flowers. Think of this as a bit of a spring preview for all of you still suffering through gray slush.

Click on the picture for a larger version. I scaled all the images down to about 800x600 for two reasons: 1) so they wouldn't take too much time to download (for those of you with slow internet connections), and 2) the photography really isn't worth a higher resolution.

Disclaimer: All botanical identifications have been made by a microbiologist, and are therefore incorrect. (Sweetie did help, so they are all now identified at least as "plants".)

Rosemary bushes outside our front door:


Some variety of wild geranium, also growing in front of our house:


Gazania:


Wild roses:


One 'ice plant' variety:


A larger variety of 'ice plant':


Oxalis (wood sorrel, only this variety is huge):


More geraniums:


Tiny poppies:


Indian paintbrush (for Grandmother Bloecker):


The tree on the side of our house always looks spare, but produces these lovely purple flowers:


When I see a picture like this, I can't believe we live here.


Hope Spring arrives for you all soon!

A day in the life...

So I thought I'd go through a typical day here on the island. Mornings start with the Things waking up around 6 or 6:30. Sweetie and I aren't up until 7, so the Things watch TV or play video games until I stumble downstairs. Breakfast is usually something quick - toast or cereal - and then Thing 1 and I head down to school. If it's not rainy/muddy, Thing 1 will ride his bike (see video below - thank you Aunt N for the helmetcam). I walk. Most days, I catch a ride in to work with my friend John, who lives over by the lab, and needs to drop his kids off at school.



The first thing we do upon arrival at the lab is check our mail. Since there aren't mailboxes at the houses in town, all our mail is delivered to the lab. Or, if the roads are muddy, nothing is delivered.

John and I are currently sharing an office: two desks, two computers, two laptops, two filing cabinets, a full-sized refrigerator, and a small coffee maker. On warm days, we open the office door to let the breeze in. Around noon, most people at WMSC go back to town for lunch. I tend to go up to the dining hall. On nice days, I sit out on the patio to eat. (And most days are nice.)

School gets out at 2:20 (except on Thursdays when it ends at 1:30). Most days, Thing2 goes down with Sweetie to pick up Thing1, and they play at the playground for a while with one of Thing1's friends (let's call him Y). Y lives on a boat. Thing1 had a sleepover on the boat last weekend. Apparently, it was a lot of fun.

If it's warm, and not muddy, John and I sometimes take a walk around 2pm to refresh our brains and get some exercise. We hike up the ridge, passing by the lab webcam. Around 4:30, most people finish up work at the lab, and head home. Some walk the two miles for exercise, some carpool in the EV's (electric vehicles), and some ride ATV's.

I get home just before 5pm and play with the kids some. Sweetie makes dinner, and I do the dishes. Thing1 does his homework, and Thing2 distracts us all. After a little more playing, the Things brush their teeth, get into pajamas, and we attempt to keep them in bed long enough to fall asleep.

Repeat.

It's raining pretty well right now. The island is saturated enough with water that even a small rain will turn the roads quite nasty. The other day we actually had to catch a shore boat over to the lab because a van full of construction workers (the guys working on the water tower) got stuck going up the hill out of town. I'm wondering if I'm going to be on a shore boat tomorrow as well.

On a brighter note, it looks like our cell phone service is back on. So feel free to call whenever you like! In addition, they're done trimming the trees in Avalon. I don't think I wrote about this yet. The road into Avalon (Stagecoach Rd) is lined with mostly eucalyptus trees. The fire last spring damaged many of them, so the Island Company hired a company to come out and trim. For a month, the only road into Avalon was closed daily from 7:30am to 1pm, with one window from 9:30-10 when they'd allow people through. Needless to say, this made getting groceries even more difficult. But that's over now! And in about another month, we'll get daily ferries again. Hurrah!

Holidays, travels, and storms

It was a busy holiday season. Like I mentioned in my previous post, we spent Christmas here on the island. It was even quieter than normal in town. A serious challenge was to get Christmas gifts to the island in time for the big day. We had some rain the week before which delayed shipment of a number of packages we were expecting. Christmas Eve we hung the stockings by the front door (with care), and left milk and cookies under the tree. Christmas day the temperature was close to 75. The Things ran around outdoors in shorts (when they weren't playing with their new Gamecube or board games or Legos). It was definitely different that other Christmases we've had, but it was fun.

Later that week we left for the East coast. On top of a trip to visit Grammy and Grandpa Nelson, we finally sold our house (hooray!) and had to get the remaining items out of the garage. Our flight out of LA was delayed by 1 hr, but Southwest held our connection in St Louis. We arrived at BWI at about 1am, and still had to drive to Delaware, finally getting to my folks' place at 3am. (Which really was only midnight California time :) ) Fortunately, we didn't have to go down to Maryland until Monday. Sweetie and I drove down, met the new owners (very nice people), took a load of stuff to the dump (well, refuse transfer station), and sold our station wagon (back down to two cars!). That evening we had dinner with a former colleague of Sweetie's. The Things stayed with Grammy and Grandpa and Aunt Naomi and went to the Brandywine River Museum (quite an adventure in GPS navigation, as I'm told).

It was cold in Delaware (20-30), and we now have little in the way of warm clothes. The Things enjoyed seeing Buster (formerly our cat) again, whacking the ice on the fish pond with sticks, and spreading toys all over the living room. Too soon it was time to return. It's an odd thing, but now the sight that makes me feel like "whew, we're home" is not the house, or the island, but as we drive south on the 110 and come over the rise and see the field of cargo cranes at the Port of LA.

Traveling on the ferry in the off season is like old home week. There's rarely anyone you don't know (or at least have seen around town) coming across to Two Harbors. So it's very friendly, and then when the ferry docks, many other people you know are waiting on the pier for the people on the boat, so it's a very social time.

Too soon we were traveling again. We were just getting adjusted to 2008, when news of the tragic death of Sweetie's 19-year-old nephew arrived. And it arrived in a typically screwed-up island way. Workers had been scheduled to sandblast and paint a water storage tank near town. It happened that the tank was right next to the local cell phone tower. So they cut power to the cell phone tower so the workers wouldn't be 'irradiated'. All cell phone coverage on the West End was out for a month. So when Sweetie's mom tried to call, she couldn't get through. She had to leave voice mail on my work phone to let us know. Then I had to drive back into town to tell Sweetie and bring her back to the lab so she could use a land line to call back. It was horrible. A trip was quickly arranged for us all to go to the services. The one bright spot in this terrible weekend was that the Things got to see and play with their cousins. We'll miss you Taylor.

Finally, I'd like to say that the rainy season is really living up to its name this year. So far in January we've gotten more rain that we did all last year. I'd like to thank those who have sent email inquiring as to how we've been doing in all this, and I'd like to apologize for not answering those emails. We're doing just fine, so far. Mud slides are not a danger where we are, and the biggest problem has been worries about whether the road to Avalon will be open for us to get groceries or get to Cub Scout meetings or catch a ferry. We have had some limbs down in town (stupid eucalyptus trees), and last weekend an 80-ft yacht was blown so hard it dragged its anchor, crashed into two other boats and then wrecked on the shore. I'll try to post a picture of that. It's impressive.

So that's a bit of a catch-up on doings here. I'll try to be better about posting more frequently, but most of you know me well enough to know how likely that is. :)

Next up: Doings at work, etc.